Troubles started brewing for BYJU’S after three of its board members from Peak XV Partners, earlier known as Sequoia Capital India, Prosus and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative quit from the company’s board last month.
And now Prosus, one of BYJU’S prominent investors, has come on record to share the reason behind the resignation of its member Russell Dreisenstock. According to the statement released by the company, BYJU’S grew considerably as a company since 2018. However, its reporting and governance structures did not evolve adequately enough to support the company of that scale.
“Despite repeated efforts from our Director, executive leadership at BYJU’S regularly disregarded advice and recommendations relating to strategic, operational, legal, and corporate governance matters,” the statement read. It added, “The decision for our Director to step down from the BYJU’S Board was taken after it became clear that he was unable to fulfil his fiduciary duty to serve the long-term interests of the Company and its stakeholders.”
Prosus’ statement also added that BYJU’S is catering to a very significant sector in an equally important way. And therefore, as a shareholder, it will continue to work with the other stakeholders to protect the long-term interests of the company.
“BYJU’S sits at the intersection of India and Education, two very important and strategic areas of investment for Prosus. Although we no longer have a representative serving on the Board of the Company, we continue to believe in the potential of BYJU’S and its role in revolutionising access to quality education in India and around the world. As a shareholder, Prosus will continue to assert its rights, collaborating with other shareholders and government authorities to safeguard the long-term interests of the Company and its stakeholders,” the statement noted.
Prosus holds about nine per cent within the edtech giant. Interestingly, the resignation of the board members came days after BYJU’S auditor Deloitte’s resignation. In a statement issued, Deloitte disclosed it was resigning because BYJU’S had delayed financial statements for 2021-22 and not provided documents, even after the auditor wrote several letters to the board between September 2022 to March 2023.
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